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Cost Of Spain's Political Crisis Tallied In Pizzas

Telepizza is a Spanish company with affiliates around the world
Telepizza is a Spanish company with affiliates around the world

MADRIDThe political gridlock in Spain is getting just a bit silly: two general elections and endless soap-operatic negotiations since December 2015 have yet to produce a stable government among the bickering parties.

No doubt, as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy searches in vain for a ruling majority, there are real-life ramifications across the country. This week Spanish telecom giant Telefónica revealed in documents for an IPO selloff of Telxius, its infrastructure arm, that Spain's political instability was hurting the company's bottom line.

Now, as El Mundo reports Thursday, all the political heat has apparently struck Telepizza, the Spanish pizza take-out chain. The pizza delivery giant's general manager in Spain, Pablo Juantegui, said growth in pizza orders had "halted" since May 2016, because of consumer "uncertainty and loss of confidence," partly attributable to the legislative paralysis.

Still, such crispy analysis doesn't necessarily jibe with broader signs about Spain's economy. On Tuesday, acting economy minister Luis de Guindos said the economy will expand by more than 3% this year, beating earlier government forecasts.

Sure, no one likes national political gridlock. But both Telepizza and Telefónica should perhaps first take a closer look at how they're stiring their own sauce.

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

Since creating a controversial commission against "Russian influence", Polish President Andrzej Duda has faced criticism from the United States and the European Union. Duda has since offered to make several changes to the law, but several experts in Brussels remain unconvinced that the law will not become a witch hunt ahead of the upcoming elections.

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

This story was updated on June 8, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. local time

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law last week, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

On Wednesday, the European Commission launched legal action against Poland over the highly controversial law. Brussels fears the law could be used to target opposition politicians in the run-up to Poland's general election, which takes place later this year.

Indeed, University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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